It is a challenge to explain – simply – the difference between allopathy and homeopathy. Common to both terms is ‘-pathy’ from the Greek meaning suffering. ‘Allo-‘ and ‘Homeo-‘ are from the Greek words for ‘opposite’ and ‘similar’ respectively.
Today allopathic medicine is the dominant philosophy. ‘Anti-pathy’ might be a better term as most drug groups in modern medicine are prefixed ‘anti-‘. Thus, there are antibiotics; anti-depressants; anti-histamines; anti-hypertensives and so on. It is ‘war’ on disease (just like ‘anti-aircraft’ or ‘anti-tank’ etc). Adverse symptoms are suppressed by external biochemical forces (drug).
In homeopathic medicine, symptoms are seen as a pathway to cure. The body produces symptoms to compensate for some imbalance. In homeopathy, the patient is given minimum dose of a substance that might cause ‘similar’ symptoms in a healthy person. In so doing, the body is catalysed to overcome the problem and return to harmony. Adverse symptoms are overcome by internal or self-regulating forces.
Both are systems of medicine are valid. Although homeopathy is considered alternative or complementary medicine, it is actually neither; it is just another approach.
The various forms of herbal medicine – many reaching back into antiquity – may have a hybrid action. That is to say both biochemical (like modern drugs) and homeopathic.
Surgery, by the way, is a separate discipline although clearly it overlaps with ‘internal medicine’ (which includes allopathy and homeopathy).
Unfortunately within state run medical provision, there is not much choice today. The dominant model is allopathic, both in medical education and practice.
As I see it there are three broad approaches to health care, in the following order:
Often little attention is given to the first two items and step three is the entry point. This is costly to personal health and the nation’s finances.
According to the Journal of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society the 2022 drug bill for the NHS exceeded £19bn. Roughly £270 per person per annum (70m population). And then there are the over-the-counter medications we buy. Obviously the cost is not uniformly spread across the population.
Because the NHS is free at the point of use, it is seen as public-spirited, and indeed its staff are, quite clearly. But behind this lie businesses, and a multi-million dollar ones at that.
Alongside this sits the fast food industry and – if you excuse the pun – one tends to feed the other.
Whilst there are undoubtably many strengths in modern medicine, there is also a tendency to a self-perpetuating model and a failure to address root causes.
Some start examples are the opiate addiction crisis – notably in the USA – which has cost many lives.
Obesity, too, is much in the news. This has led to a growth in prescription drugs, most recently GLP-1 receptor agonists which are also not without hazard, but I dare say profitable.
Years ago there was a popular song about swallowing a fly, you have likely heard it…. here are a few verses
I know an old lady,She swallowed a fly
But I don’t know why,She swallowed the fly,
I guess she’ll die
I know an old lady,Who swallow a spider
It wiggled and jiggled,And tickled inside her
She swallowed a spider,To catch the fly
But I don’t know why,She swallowed the fly
I guess she’ll die
Ending, in summary….
I know an old lady, Who swallowed a rhinoceros
Isn’t that preposterous! To swallow a rhinoceros
She swallowed a rhinoceros, To catch the minister
She swallowed the minister,To catch the goat
She swallowed the goat,To catch the dog
She swallowed the dog,To catch the cat
She swallowed the cat, To catch the bird
And she swallowed a bird, To catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled,And tickled inside her
And she swallowed the spider,To catch the fly
But I don’t know why,She swallowed the fly
I guess she’ll die!
I know an old lady
Who swallowed a horse… she choked!
Source: Musixmatch
Medicine can seem a bit like that sometimes. One pill to offset the effects of another.
And the time pressures in General Practice don’t help. Retired GP Dr Bob Leckridge recently penned this thoughtful blog giving his concerns.
Whether you favour the new Trump administration or not, his appointment of Robert Kennedy as Health Secretary looks set to challenge the status quo.
Dr John Campbell rather hopes he will in this recent vlog.
The mainstream media labels him as ‘anti-vax’ which is basically language of the playground and not helpful. If you cannot get the ball go for the man.
Vaccination is the ‘hand-grenade’ question I wrote a blog on before. Why should discussion be suppressed?
RFK Jnr has been a leading figure in the organisation Children’s Health Defence.
Only this…homeopathy is just one small victim of a shift in medical philosophy. Just over a hundred years ago it was quite mainstream. The impressive monument below – located in the centre of Washington – celebrates Dr Samuel Hahnemann who set down the principles on homeopathic practice.
The new science saw homeopathy in retreat by the middle of the twentieth century. A revival followed in the 1980s and then NHS funding was withdrawn in 2017.
However, many experienced doctors recognise that no single medical system fits all. But their efforts to establish integrative approaches to medicine are rarely well received by the establishment. Why is this?
I can only assume that such initiatives constitute a threat to the status quo.
Zimbabwean doctor, Jackie Stone who introduces the video below, recently and tragically took her life. She challenged the establishment in her (effective) treatment of Covid-19. The details you can find online. But in the video it is the wider view of all the physicians that makes it a particularly worthy watch (30 minutes)
As always if you would like to discuss whether homeopathy could help with your health please book a free 30 minute Discovery Call via this button.
Disclaimer: I am a qualified professional homeopath and not a medical doctor. The NHS has many resources, and seeking the opinion of your GP is always of value.
Dibden Purlieu, Southampton